“But I Want It to be Easy…”

That’s what he said to me. Easy. He wants it to be easy.

I don’t blame him, we would all like it to be easy. Without having to work too much, or do the hard stuff. Just stay in our comfort zone and pretend we are making progress. We wont be, but we can always find a litany of folks to blame for our failure. Not us, we just want it to be easy. And doing it right is, well, just too damn hard.

Oh, I’m sorry, I am talking about a client of mine in CA who wanted to have his site be found on Google. He wanted to know why his site wasn’t being found. He wanted it to be found, and knew that I work with a lot of sites to help them create more visibility in the search engine world.

Some folks refer to it as SEO, but that term implies something that I think gives a wrong impression, namely that there is a set of ‘things’ you can attach to your site to ‘optimize’ it for the search engines. Yeah, and that’d be, you know, easy. I believe that success in the SE world takes determination, effort, skill, a little luck and tenacious attention to detail.

He pulled out an article that he had saved written by someone in his industry who was very successful and was now an advocate of SEO. The tactics expressed were;

1. wrong
2. outdated
3. against Google TOS
4. would result in disaster

But the techniques were, you know, easy, and didn't require any effort from him.

Just hide some copy on the page (Google will terminate the site), or fill your title with 250 keywords (Google will adjust, uh, negatively), or grab a whole bunch of domains and simply forward them to your site. (Yeah, that’ll work.) Not.

A good friend of mine had a ranking of 4-5 on any given day, he played out well in the searches and as he kept tweaking the page his results were getting better and better. Then he went to a seminar a few months ago and was told about a tactic (forwarding domains) by some ‘Guru’. My friend then purchased 10 domains at GoDaddy (hey, they’re cheap – especially if you only get them for one year) and pointed them all at his site. It was really easy.

Last week he was sitting in my office wondering what the hell happened. Not only was his ranking gone (0), he had no indexing at all. I was very perplexed, as his site was very SE friendly and should be well received. I finally asked him if he had done anything to the site. He said he had only been doing what we told him to do, but had tried to help his ranking with the multiple domain tactic he learned at the seminar.

Oops. Google does not like that crap at all. And to think that he listed 10 - all one years – just compounded his ills. We are killing all but his main domain, one for his blog, and another will host his portrait only information. We will have to do this and wait, submit, wait and hope that his main domain gets picked up again. There is no guarantee, but we will try because his domain is very good and it is worth a try.

And, it will be hard. He will have to do even more than he was doing to overcome the low point index he has achieved.

Look, let’s just take a moment and review some simple truths about SE’s, the web, and marketing overall. Google wants everyone who searches on their site to get results that are the most appropriate. That is what they do. Deliver the results that matter to the person who is searching.

So along comes SEO ‘gurus’ who attempt to change that simple process. They want to ‘trick’ the search engines to deliver your page, which may not be as relevant as someone else’s for that search parameter. They feel that the searcher is too stupid to know the difference so once they click on your page you will get a customer. Yeah… sure.

I make a Google search for ‘San Diego Architectural Photographer’. Someone who has himself a whizzbang SEO Guru, has used those terms, hidden his text, spammed the keywords… you know, all that cool stuff. And Google hasn’t discovered it yet. So instead of finding an Architectural Photographer in San Diego, I get listings of someone who has decided to place pages of links with, tada, AdSense on the page. I hit the page – it ain’t what I am looking for - and he hopes that I will click on something on his page and he will make 18cents. I don’t, ever, but I now have to click back and try again. Or I get a lithographer who has decided he wants all the architects in San Diego to know about him so he hijacks keywords that aren't related in order to capture that demographic.

And then I try again.

And Google looks bad because they didn’t deliver what I was looking for.

So it is in their best interest to get rid of the crap so they don’t look bad.

My first rule is: If you think you are ‘getting over’ or ‘tricking’ or somehow doing the least needed to succeed in SE world, you are kidding yourself and could easily end up with a domain that is simply not found.

Being relevant is what you must aim for. There are lots of things that you can do, and that Google will love your site for, but only a few of them are, well, ‘easy’. Preparing your page is simple and easy. Making sure your site isn’t a total Flash site is easy. Having relevant copy, page text, page name, meta content and clean code is easy. Making sure your web designer has a clue about what you want to achieve on the web is, well, somewhat easy.

But that relevance thing, the most important thing, means that effort will be exerted. You will have to be dedicated to doing a little more with your website than paying the hosting bill. An SE friendly site will be dynamic, changing, living and relevant to those who are seeking what you offer.

And, like all things worth attaining, simply not ‘easy’.

If ignorance really is bliss...

...this guy has to be about the happiest guy in the world. I don't go political often, and no matter what side of the line you are on, the stupendous leaps of faith, ad hominem proclomations, apples to oranges comparisons and a fundamentally rich ability to shun critical thinking makes some people literally stand out. Making critical commentary was a rich tradition, now it is sadly wanting. A person with even a modicum of critical thinking skills can rip drivel this to shreds. It serves no one when we sit silently and allow fools to take up our causes and become our leaders. Ya know? (political rant over)

Was 9/11 really that bad? - Los Angeles Times: "It also raises several questions. Has the American reaction to the attacks in fact been a massive overreaction? Is the widespread belief that 9/11 plunged us into one of the deadliest struggles of our time simply wrong? If we did overreact, why did we do so? Does history provide any insight?"

Hmmmm... I say

The New Face of Corporate America: KISS MY CORPORATE ASS! » Chris Hooley’s -ThinkBait-: "Fast paced change has been the M.O. of the past few decades. As the internet expands and practically consumes media markets, those who once were the undercurrent have become the drivers."

"That's my world. That's where I live."

His "passion" more than makes up for the, well, technical issues. Funny as hell but may be NSFW.

Sit Back, Relax and...

Take Five. It's Sunday Jazz.

Right on to part two...

...uh, and did you notice he is wearing a shirt, tie and jacket? Didja?
Classic

Oh, hell... one more time. This is what I love about jazz. Same song - very different solos.

The amazing George Benson...

My daughters skate. I love this video.

Yuka Sato: Amazing.

One more time from George. Aint this fun?

Wow... Really... Wow!

Think you've had a scary incident? Read this... and then you will understand the last line. I wish it didn't take something this scary because it is certainly a great way to live.

"And there was one happy postscript. Now 81, Betty Tootell went on to marry James Ferguson, the man who sat in the row in front of her.

'Life is full of surprises,' she says, from her home near Auckland, New Zealand. 'James and I married 13 years ago and we feel we're still on honeymoon. That night, I learned to count every day as a bonus.'"

Gorgeous Photoshop Brushes

These lovely brushes are free from Design Fruit. Check them out. Great for adding some interest to pages, wedding book backgrounds, portfolios and more.

» Blog Archive » Japanese Foliage™: "Japanese Foliage™
I created these designs after being inspired by Japanese-style prints. Here’s a few examples from the Japanese Foliage™ Set. You will find download instructions for the Brushes, Illustrator Vector Art, and PNGs below the images."

Oh my....

Dang, I want one of these!

Seitz 6x17: "Create a high resolution 6x17 digital image (160 million pixels) in
one second!"

Advertising Age -"Ideas Have Value!"

Uhh... yes, they do.

Well, finally it is starting to go mainstream. Ideas have value. Even without production, the idea has an intrinsic value that has to be monetized. Thanks... but many of us have been preaching this for years.

Advertising Age - Fed-up Agencies Quit Punching the Clock: "Innovation reaches critical mass
'The discussion is beginning to shift from 'What does it cost to generate work and services a client wants?' to 'What is the value of the services and materials the agency is creating for the client?'' said Ronald Urbach, partner, Davis & Gilbert. 'Innovation is reaching a critical mass.' "

Be Prepared. Not Just for Scouts Anymore

Some convergences here. Last week we saw the first of the American Idol (Idle?) auditions. It also brought a flood of email to my box regarding a photographer I had worked with and a huge problem he had gotten himself into. And on the radio show, Razr and I discussed being prepared for meeting people and fostering a relationship.

The convergence: A fundamental lack of preparedness as a way of life. I will endeavor to weave them below.

On AI we saw a trail of people standing in line for a shot at auditioning for a major television show. There were some that were prepared, you know, like, they had actually, you know, sung before. Seriously. There were talented people there given 30 seconds to prove themselves. Some had good auditions and some didn't. But they were prepared. However the vast majority of the folks were not prepared. They didn't choose a song that was appropriate. They didn't practice it. They didn't take it apart measure by measure and work it out for hours to make it perfect. After all, this is a-cappella. No mic. No mixer. No band. Just them. Worst-case scenario stuff.

And they treated it like it was nothing. They hadn't practiced for hours, sang in the choirs, put together a garage band, gotten a vocal coach, taped themselves obsessively, learned key and scales and intervals... whew. No, that crap is boring, they just want to be a star. Then, to make their stupidity even more poignant, they were distressed, angry and petulant that the judges hadn't given them a pass. Really! Really?

They showed up, stood in line and were entitled to be a star. Entitled.

What an insult to the judges, viewers and fellow contestants who had worked hard. Can you imagine waiting hours for an audition that you had prepared for, sometimes for years - decades, so that some jerk thought that because they were able to make utterances in a screeching manner, THEY deserved a shot? Insulting.

Photographers who don't take the time to learn their craft find themselves in hot water occasionally. Buy a new camera, new lighting gear and go do a once in a lifetime job for a client who is a friend. Without ever testing the camera, lights, anything. Just show up. Shoot. Leave.

Confidence where none should exist is a hallmark of youth I am finding more and more.

I won't go into the gory details, but let's just say it didn't work out like the client expected. Heck, it didn't work out like the photographer expected. Once in a lifetime situation was not captured by the photographer. Hurt feelings, anger and a friendship in danger.

Learn the craft of photography as well as the art of photography, then learn the technology of photography. There is a lot to learn. Don't believe the hype that tells you that any moron can take a great shot with a (fillintheblank) D-SLR. Seriously, point and shoot and sell the shot for thousands.

Yeah, That's exactly what us pros do. We have been trying to keep it under wraps, but somehow it has been exposed. We have never spent any time testing meters, lenses, film, exposure, lighting, fill, DOF, poses, printing....uhhhh, and all that other time wasting crap. Nope, we just buy a cool camera and choose a secret setting. That's it.

Sorry for the above snideness. What an outrage. How inappropriate. Simply stupid.

I bought a Tenor sax a few years ago. Still can't play like Trane. Why? I bought a good one. I practice, you know, whenever I can. Sometimes like an hour a week. Friggin' sax. Must be something wrong with it. (Oops, more snarkiness, I really do apologize.)

"Hey", my photographer acquaintance said, "I paid a lot of money for this camera. You would think it would take a good photo."

And it does. Especially when you have it set at the larger image captures instead of the lowest JPEG. He never even questioned why the camera took more than a thousand images on one medium sized card. Never even looked at the manual.

Can you light a headshot to make the subject look good? Or can you only do it your way? Can you add the touches that would make a person look thinner with lighting, or do you simply use the bloat tool? Do you shoot whenever you can, or only when a job comes up? Do you practice, practice, practice? Do you know when an umbrella may be better than a softbox? Vice versa? Do you use a tripod when you shouldn't? Or when you should? Do you know when to use a tripod?

In short... are you prepared?

Get to know how to light the subjects you shoot that will be what THEY are looking for. Practice. Edit ruthlessly. Get feedback. Correct. Repeat.

Be prepared for life. Be prepared for jobs. Whatever you do, there are some that do it better. The vast majority of the time you will find that it is the ones that are prepared. Find out what it costs to be prepared. Damn sure it will cost something. Most of the costs will be in the hard work, time, effort, self-critique, soul-searching, self-esteem challenges, more time and work and effort. That is what it costs. If you think it has something to do with the price of your tools, in most cases you are wrong. There are highly successful photographers who shoot with plastic $20 cameras. Ornette Coleman played on a plastic toy saxophone.

And if you audition for American Idle... (yeah, that's how I spell it)... for goodness sake be prepared.

Mary Virginia Swanson has a blog

If you didn't know, now you do. Read it every day. No exceptions. Her insight is inspirational to us all.

Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson: "Deep into the Photo LA gallery expo this weekend, preparing to give lead a Collecting Seminar tomorrow. Noting the emphasis on photography books, limited edition and small press titles are in abundance; collecting books has clearly come into its own. Saw copies of THE AMERICANS by Robert Frank that had price tags ranging from $6500 to $12,500 depending on condition. Take care of your photography books, especially those that are signed! Whether you bring them to the second market or donate your book collection to a library or museum, they should have a long happy life as well cared for objects."

Well...

It's Sunday. It's jazz. It's Arturo Sandoval.

Wow... that's so metal!

As the professor would say: Heh.

WEB 2.0: How to be a jerk about Web 2.0 - Valleywag: "NICK DOUGLAS -- 'Oh my god Web 2.0? More like Bubble 2.0!' Okay, good start. But to really intimidate non-geeks and show how you're so over Web 2.0 (as proved by the five parody logos you uploaded on Flickr and auto-inserted into your blog), you need to break out these advanced tactics."

DIY Gridspot for your small flashes

Nice job.

Lighting Equipment and Techniques Forum: Homemade Honeycomb Attachment for Shoe Flash: "I haven't seen a commercial honeycomb attachment for a hotshoe flash. That's why I did one myself. "

Reminder: Mighty Imaging can help your bottom line!

As you may know, I design websites and shoot. One of my clients, and a great little company, is Mighty Imaging. We built them a cool little tool to help photographers, bloggers and site owners make a little money. If you want to be an affiliate, Mighty Imaging will pay you 10% of all print orders that come into their lab through a simple uploader. All you have to do is add a link to your site with a little code that they will give you and you will get a check for 10% of all orders placed from your blog, site or organization.

This is a great way for organizations, groups and photo clubs to make a little money for their group. Photographers need prints, and MI makes some of the best around at prices that are amazing. Peter and Stephanie love to help organizations, and this seems like a great way to do it. Give them a call at 602 977 1234 and they will set you up with an account. Then you just add a link and - well - there you go.

A new "Must Read" Blog

There are many photo blogs about marketing, shooting, lighting and toys. Here's one that is a vital point of reference. Business is its focus. Business is its content.

Photo Business News & Forum: Assignment In Detail: "This business of photography is changing. Constantly. Yet, fundamental business principles remain the same.

Here in the Photo Business Forum, we aim to make sense of all this left-brain stuff. We'll leave the right-brain growth to other talented educators. But don't get it twisted, we're photographers first, and earn our living every day making images. We're not proselytizing from on high, these are street-tested and time-worn practices.

Are there other resources out there to pose your questions, get answers, and engage in a dialog? Absoultely, and We'll discuss them, promote and refer people to them. We are constantly participating in ongoing dialogs elsewhere. Usually it's responding to questions posted there, some of which we will post here as well."

Spending Money on Branding?

Or just tossing it in the toilet. Jim has a post to get the ball rolling on a conversation about "Branding." You know, that word that everyone throws around but no one really knows what it means.

Jim Logan - B2B Direct Response Marketer: "Branding is interesting - an intangible marketing activity led by people that don't have revenue responsibilities. I prefer direct response marketing - it's proven, measurable, and focused on what matters most, generating more sales and increasing profits."

Sunday Workshop: Fun with Lighting!

Workshop Notes:
(There is more information at www.dongiannatti.com/workshops)

Important Note: all images on this post were taken by attendees at the workshop.

Sunday's workshop was a lot of fun, and I finally recuperated last night just before 24 came on. Workshops are always exciting, and talking, waiving my arms around, working with multiple photographers, and creating lighting situations over and over again can really take its toll. (NOTE to self; drink some water while you are teaching. Man, I get really dehydrated.)

We started with the basics of lighting but quickly discovered that this group had a strong understanding of the fundamentals, so we moved to more advanced techniques. From softbox to umbrella to modified hard light, we looked at the uses of each, and how to finesse the light instead of just having light.

Our first models of the day were Michaila and Victoria. We alternated headshot lighting with the girls, and the attendees wanted to work with the simple tools and leave the big studio strobes packed. That is fine with me, as I am using the smaller stuff more and more these days. Last week I did a ob with two small hot lights. I love the simplicity of hot light - easy and fast to deploy.

First shoot was Victoria with a single umbrella and a hot light (Lowell). We covered custom white balance, correct exposure and basic posing techniques. We also worked with placing the umbrella at optimum positions and working with the fill cards to produce the best, most flattering lighting. I really like using hot lights to show how the umbrellas can flatter the face, as well as showing how important placement can be. A few inches up or down can make a big difference.

Michaila was used for a demonstration on how to use a couple of fill cards and two Home Depot lights to make a gorgeous beauty shot. This is one of the techniques that is covered on my DVD, and we wanted to show them how fast and simply the lighting can be created.

Next up was creating a double headshot with a single umbrella, fill cards and secondary light on background. We used a Canon 550 for the main umbrella and a Canon 430 for the background. Placing a stand or tripod in front of the backlight gave a shadow shape on the background. Careful placement of the main light gave us very flattering light.

We took Victoria outside for a setup of single umbrella flash in the shade. Victoria was cold, but she did a great job and worked hard for the guys. Using an umbrella with small strobe can give a very flattering light for outside portraiture, and if you control the ratio of the strobe to the ambient, you can create a sense of drama.

As the morning was winding its way toward lunch, we decided to take Michaila outside for a simple technique I call "Instant Studio." It is a technique I used a lot when shooting editorial fashion in Chicago and LA. Simple and fast, I have always used this when I have little time to do a lot of images, and the client wants a natural look to the lighting. We looked at the difference between a gold and a white fill board, and I added a mirror for a variation. Take great care that the model does not get blasted in the face with the mirror light. It can be very dangerous.

Lunch: discussions and some great insights from Scott Condray of Visualville. Scott usually comes down to the workshops to meet the students and talk about stock photography, computers and photoshop techniques.

After lunch Christina came in and we packed up and headed downtown (10 minutes away). Downtown on a Sunday is usually quite empty, and even though there was a game going on, we still had the streets pretty much to ourselves.

Location lighting we covered was: natural fill, backlight, filtering sunlight through a small scrim, small strobe headshot, full sun and using shadow/light for defining the model. Finding a location like this block in downtown is fantastic. There are so many places to shoot, so many ways of using light, and so many colors and textures there that it is a photographers dream.

Christina brought a couple of outfits so the photographers got to experience how the models wardrobe can lend itself to the location, and how to use contrast in the location to enhance the model or clothes. One of her selections was a mini dress that she had purchased in Hawaii over the Christmas break. It was 40 degrees in the shade. Christina never complains, she just gets in there and does the job. When we took her out of the shade she had goosebumps on her goosebumps. What a trooper.

We headed back to the studio to look at some of the captures and work with them in Photoshop. Careful attention to exposure and color meant that the images were pretty solid right off the cards. We used some actions (included in the workshop CD) to modify the images and show how post processing can add even more interest to the images.

We packed out around 5:45, exhausted but excited. Thanks to all the attendees, Victoria, Michaila and Christina for being there and working so hard. Thanks to my buddy David who came down and took some stills of us working and also for helping out whenever he can. Thanks, Scott, for being a great friend and for bringing some wonderful stories and insights to the workshop.

There is a little video over at my site. It is a quick, fun glimpse into the workshop location shoot.

A light has been forever dimmed

Michael Brecker has left us. We are all diminished for his passing and yet we were all made so much the better by his music. One of the great tenor sounds of my lifetime is forever silent now. Listen... the stillness reverberates with his presence. Michael Brecker, RIP. Wikipedia Entry here.

Chet Baker (Weekend Concert)

A great compilation set with lots of music and some interesting video. Enjoy.

Display colors

Check this out!

Lighting Setups

I am working on a new project. I believe there are 10 lighting setups that every photographer should know instinctively, and be able to pull from their bag and reproduce when necessary. Sometimes you get a chance and a reason to get all creative and create a lighting masterpiece. And sometimes you have to get something lit. In those situations it is imperative that lighting doesn't come as an afterthought, or be hastily assembled. There are some elegant ways to achieve lighting that charm, delight, and bring life to situations that could have been mundane.

Here is a link to four fun examples including a movie and a Photoshop Post-Process video. If you would like a copy of the Photoshop lighting diagram in layers, drop me a line and I will email it to you.

LOL... You Really Do Have to See This

A great and very funny page with "comments" by web types on the great images of our time. If you have participated in any online forums, you will recognize the folks represented here. (Hat tip, Strobist)
Couldn't help adding my own:

Comments by: Stephan Shuteritis
Dude, your background shows and the whole edge thing is so 80's. I think you could have gotten a more sharper image if you had used strobes instead of the light from that big window. I think you should have cropped in tighter and used a longer lens. Longer lenses kinda make things sharper, so you should have used one.

Also think it would have been better in color. Overall though, a good capture. BTW, you could burn that lighter area down in Photoshop just a little more.

You can definitely spend some time hanging out at the Online Photographer.

For those of you concerned about rights...

You gotta feel for this poor schlub... - or maybe not.

"hello:
I must say, Im quite upset. I have been using images from your web site for along time now and suddenly they are gone. and I am concerned."

There's more. Lots more.
Go see this. Go now.

I once had someone in Europe using an image from my portfolio as her 'emoticon' on some German bulletin board. She was very prolific and we were getting thousands of hits due to her emoticon being pulled everytime someone visited any post on her website. I changed the image to say "I f**k anyone". Yes, it was crude and lewd... and it stopped being used in about 24 hours.

Congratulations Jen Bekman!

One of the Innovators of the Year! That is so cool. We discovered her blog, one of the smartest on the subject of art photography around, a few months ago and added her to a prominent section of our NetVibes page. Deserving of this she is.

Were it not for the Internet, there would probably be no Jen Bekman Gallery. After years of managing Web development teams at Netscape and Disney, Bekman found herself in her early 30s with some extra disposable cash and an interest in photography. She also had a lot of photographer friends who were having trouble getting their work seen and, more important, sold.

Despite her belief that "more people should buy and own art and more people should sell it," Bekman had never bought art herself because galleries made her uncomfortable. "I was always conscious of the weight of everything I didn't know that I was supposed to know," she explains. She decided to dip into her dot-com funds to open a populist-style brick-and-mortar gallery that is quintessentially defined and driven by Web culture.

A Kodak Moment

Wynton (Sunday Evening Jazz)

Simply four great performances.

Yep... that's what I have been saying...

Some social sites that let anybody create content end up with just what you think they will end up with. And it steams, too.

It is amazing to me that there is such a hallyballoo about DIGG. Kinda cool idea, sort of... maybe. I dunno, don't really get it. The whole social site phenomena of being built on a single idea (DIGG up - DIGG down) and then letting a bunch of people with no criteria and serious anger management problems take it down the crapper is, well, weird. This guy had his run-in with the rabid and posts about it here. Every place develops their own type of clientele... and these guys show what kind of clientele DIGG hosts. Classy, really classy.

I started to become concerned. What did he mean "you had better see what they are posting about you?" So I went back to that digg submission and saw immediately that my comment was dugg down to death. It had something like -300 diggs in less than an hour. I was shocked. What got everybody so pissed off? So I started reading some of the replies. This is what I saw:

There's Gotta Be a Great Headline Here Somewhere

Power-washing a building in Manhattan. Write your own ad copy... great shot.

The winds of change...???

Today the political landscape changed a bit. I feel a song coming on...

Tech Crunch Picks 15

I agree with almost all of Michaels picks. Digg is my big holdout. Sure, I understand the concept, but having news chosen / rated / and delivered by users begs the question... who are the users? Anti Bush screeds (generally wrong or ad hominem), Paris Hilton clips, Playstation 3 hacks, "How bad the Gubment Be" crap and the occasional wierd happening somewhere in the world isn't really on my radar for news. I would like to see what others who are interested in the same things that I am find, but I am not interested in communities that blacklist certain members for disagreeing with them, or the unintelligent commenters who sound rabid.

Anyway... Arrington's list.

A year ago I wrote a post called “Web 2.0 Companies I Couldn’t Live Without” and listed thirteen startups who’s products made a real impact in my life. Those were the products that I loved, and used every day. I enjoyed sorting through the hundreds of startups that we had written about, and picking just a handful that made a real impact on my life. It was so much fun, actually, that I’m updating the list this year.

Seven of the companies are still on the list. Six have dropped off to make room for new products, and I’ve added two more to round out the list to fifteen total products. Here’s the current list, in alphabetical order, of products I use every day and couldn’t live without:

Wired Predictions

Fun stuff. I think the Digg thing is right on as well as the MySpace prediction.

Here are some predictions for 2007:

• Google Stock Hits $1,000 per Share
• Internet Traffic Doubles ...

  to 5,000 petabits per day by the end of 2007. And 80 percent of it is peer-to-peer file sharing, mostly Skype video and BitTorrent.

• BitTorrent on TiVo

  Speaking of, digital video recorders get BitTorrent baked in, bringing internet video to the living room.

• Spam Doubles

  No-brainer -- but no one cares because we're all using IM, especially at work.